Town officials ordered the development of plans for a new flagpole installation for the front of town hall.

The action taken by members of the Barrington Town Council during their meeting on July 22 was the first concrete step toward possibly moving all outreach flags — the Pride flag, the Autism Awareness flag, etc. — off the flagpole that is located in the veterans memorial abutting Barrington Town Hall.

The issue of whether the town should be flying outreach flags on the veterans memorial flagpole has been strongly contested. It is one of the key factors that led to the resignation of the entire Barrington United Veterans Council earlier this year. 

In April, Barrington Town Council President Carl Kustell made an effort to address the issue, but his motion to order a conceptual plan for installing three flag poles in front of the town hall where outreach flags could be flown failed to garner enough support.

At the July meeting, Kustell gave it one more try. 

“I acknowledge there is no clear consensus on moving forward with a second flagpole location, but I recommend approval of funding a conceptual plan, along with a public engagement process, to develop ideas for the Council to determine whether a new public space featuring a new flagpole or flagpoles would be worth pursuing, compared to continuing to use the flagpole at the Veterans Memorial,” Kustell wrote in a memo to his fellow Councilors. 

During the July meeting, Kustell explained why he supports the additional flagpole installation. For starters, the flagpole at the veterans memorial is almost entirely obscured by the tree canopy for much of the year, he said. People walking or driving along County Road, past Barrington Town Hall, can hardly notice the current flagpole. 

Kustell also said the town has not offered people a visual concept of what the new flagpole installation could look like. An artist’s rendering may play a role in determining whether the community wants to support the effort. The Council President said he would like to have input from a broader group of residents. He added that Barrington, in its current approach allowing the outreach flags to fly on the same pole as the US flag and atop the veterans memorial, is an outlier. 

Kustell called for the town to authorize the expenditure of up to $1,700 from the Council Contingency Fund to hire a landscape architect to develop the plans. Barrington Town Manager Phil Hervey, in his memo to the Council, recommended the development of the conceptual designs. He said it was a reasonable expense. 

Council discussion 

Rob Humm was the first Councilor to put his support behind Kustell’s initiative. Humm said that while he would not personally bring up the flag issue, he does support Kustell’s effort. 

Kate Berard said the flagpole issue surfaces a lot, and she does not like that the issue has become anti-veteran or anti-other things the town supports. Berard said it is time the town put this issue to bed. She said she supports the idea of developing a concrete plan and eliminating the conjecture. 

Braxton Cloutier said he concurred with Berard — it is time to put the issue to bed. Cloutier initially said he was not in support of a second flagpole arrangement — he believes the current system works. He also said he did not like the idea of spending additional money to fly flags on different flagpoles… “it doesn’t feel good to spend money on something like this.”

Cloutier, at the end of his comments, said he appreciated everyone’s thoughts on the topic… “but, no.”

That remark drew a response from Berard. She said she agreed with everything he said except the “no” part. She said the topic has been clouded by angry speech and politicization, but she believes the outreach flags can work better in front of the town hall where they will not be hidden by tree cover. 

Berard said part of the Councilors’ job is to listen to all voices, even when they don’t agree with them. She also said the expenditure was not that big. 

The public comment period offered varying views on the issue, including support for the initiative from a member of the DEI Committee. David Mehl, a retired pastor, said he officiated hundreds of funerals for veterans and grew to appreciate the dignity and elegance of veterans ceremonies and places. He said veterans formed an important subset of our community, adding that even when he believed a certain war was wrong, he still wanted to honor the veterans who fought in it. About the veterans memorial next to Barrington Town Hall, Mehl said it was a sacred space in our community and he wanted to honor that. 

Mehl also said he was in favor of highlighting the issue of underrepresented people in our community. 

“I think we can restitch the fabric of our town on this issue,” he said. 

Thomas Rimoshytus suggested the outreach flags be moved into the Council Chambers inside the town hall. 

Kustell rejected Rimoshytus’s idea and later made a motion to authorize the expenditure of funds to develop conceptual plans. Cloutier seconded the motion, which passed 4-0.